I promised myself that I would stay away from this board. But curiosity got the best of me.
Allow me to say I totally understand the disappointment. I understand the grumbling and questions being asked.
I DON’T understand how anyone could be calling for Pittman to be fired. Not after year 3.
While none of us consider 6-6 to be an acceptable season, we do all need to put this season into the context of what Pittman inherited. He was able to craft a very good season last year with alot of 5th and 6th year seniors who were hungry. But that was a one-off. A band-aid while he recruited.
I honestly, truly and deeply believe Pittman has changed the culture, and therefore the trajectory of the program. He does things the right way. He is building a foundation.
Now, does that foundation Sam is building need to produce wins? Yes. Am I willing to be patient and wait for year 5 to really evaluate his success? Yes. Not strictly because of the stereotypical “it takes five years” time frame. But also understanding what it is like to take over a program in complete disarray. I did it myself back in '98. And while music and football are not exactly the same, they both rely on culture, hard work, buy in, and RECRUITING. It does not happen over night. Yes, the portal can expedite things in theory. But the folks we compete against use it too. This is not the NFL where the worst teams get the top draft picks. College sports is very much a system that allows the rich to get richer. Catching up is much, much harder.
So while I am not exactly happy with our season, I am not shattered either. I will watch the bowl game and root for a win. And I’ll watch what happens with the portal. I suspect ALL PROGRAMS out there are gonna lose alot, and add alot. It’s the direction college sports is going. Like it or not.
I expect us to be better next year. Especially if (and we all know he should) KJ comes back. He needs a year with a healthy shoulder to show the NFL what he can really do.
6-6 sure beats the hell out of the Chad Morris years and at least the national media does talk more favorably and respectively of us now…am i happy?no…but i don’t let my blood pressure get so woirked up over things anymore…just my opinion…and yes…i have one of those too…my wife calls me that all the time!
6 wins in 1 year is equal to 3 years win total under Hammer Down.
The culture has been over hauled yet. The issue with Slusher shows that. it has be mentioned on the board today in a post that there may be a cancer in the locker room! What ever it is it needs to be stopped. What ever has to take place is done to fix it needs to happen.
Coach Pittman needs to roll his sleeves up and go to work. Both and players and staff.
Another thought. Last week they shut down the offense! This week they couldn’t turn it back on. That’s a lesson to be put in the memory bank! Once you start firing on all cylinders let the loose ends drag and let your hair hang out and keep your foot on the gas!
Our hogs failed to show up and play 4 quarters with energy an effort in almost every game this season. The best game played was the loss to LSU.
Indeed. That’s why I’m not terribly worried about the state of the program. I’m sick about the losses, but between 2012-2019 we’d have been blowing big leads or getting blown out. 6-6 plus a bowl win got Bret Bielema an extension and raise. (And people worried about Sam’s resume before getting the gig here need to remember Bielema took Wisconsin to 3 Rose Bowls.)
A handful of plays and some key injuries. I don’t care who you are, you get your QB hurt, you are usually gonna suffer. VERY few teams do just fine without their top QB.
Losing Cat hurt a ton too.
I remember turning to Mary when Cat went down and saying “we may win today, but if he’s out, I’d much rather lose today and keep him healthy.”
This was the biggest blow of the season to me. Cat was the Grant Morgan type leader that the defense needed. And the one who would have stepped up and rallied the team and made a play after the 14 point swing changed the whole game against A&M. He likely would have been the difference in turning a couple of losses to wins.
I also thought the coaches really mismanaged the KJ situation. They thought they could send him out there at 50% and still beat Liberty. It was obvious he couldn’t get out of the pocket or throw accurately. Play Hornsby if that’s who got most of the reps, and maybe we win that one and KJ is healthy enough to go against LSU.
Injuries are always going to happen. But still no excuse to lose to Liberty at home.
The portal and recruiting, as well as winning a bowl game to at least finish with a winning record, are extremely important for Sam leading into next year.
Too true sir. But it’s the way we started those close losses that have the fans steamed. Basically pulling a no show during the first half of those games and trying big comebacks in the second half? That’s the coaching staff not having the team ready to play. You can get away with that against lower caliber teams, but not SEC teams.
Yes sir and a handful of injuries at critical positions paints a different picture as well especially when you have defections to the portal in the same areas of injuries.WPS